OF WASHINGTON. 85 



HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE OF ENTOMOLOGY. 



In considering the history of entomology I shall dwell more 

 particularly on the records of the earlier centuries, and move 

 much more rapidly over the later periods. 



The sources from which the facts, dates, titles, etc., have 

 been derived have been numerous, and careful comparisons 

 and verifications have been made. The works themselves have 

 been examined wherever obtainable, and among these are such 

 interesting old compilations and memoirs as those of Pliny, yElien 

 Gesner-Moufet, Aldrovandi, Redi, Ray, Albin, Swammerdam, 

 Bonnani, Roesel von Rosenhof , Johnson, Frisch, Reaumur, Sepp, 

 and others, and many of the more modern authors. The principal 

 later writers covering the general subject drawn upon are La- 

 treille, Cuvier, Kirby and Spence, Lacordaire, Percheron, Bur- 

 meister, and Hagen. 



When one brings together the names which are important and 

 known to most of us in connection with our study and arranges 

 them chronologically, they fall somewhat readily into a number 

 of groups characterized either by well-known workers who made 

 epochs in the science or by peculiar conditions in the world's 

 history. 



For the convenience of my present purpose, rather than as 

 indicating necessarily well-differentiated historical periods, I 

 have divided the writers on insects into six groups, as follows : 



Group I. The old Greek and Roman writers (350 B. C. to 100 A. D.). 

 " II. The period of revival of interest in scientific subjects (1550- 



1650). (Authors born between 1500 and 1600.) 

 " III. The Ray period (1650-1750). (Authors born between 1600 



and 1700.) 

 " IV. The contemporaries of Linne (1725-1775). (Authors born 



between 1700 and 1740.) 

 " V. The pupils and the immediate followers of Linne (1775- 



1825). (Authors born between 1740 and 1790.) 

 " VI. The period covered by the first half or three-fourths of the 



present century. (Authors born between 1790 and 1815.)* 



* Subsequent to the presentation of this address, in which the above clas 

 sification of writers had been suggested. I came into the possession of the 

 arrangement followed by Lacordaire, which is given below for purposes 



